Refrigeration



I Ap 6, 1937. s. w. E. ANDERSSON REFRIGERATI ON Filed July 5, 1956 Patented At s, 1937 OFFICE.

REFRIGERATION I Sven-W. E. Andersson, Evansville, Ind., assignor to Servel, Inc., New Yo of Delaware rk, N. Y., a corporation Application July 3, 1936, Serial No. 88,718-

6 Claims. (01. 62-1) My invention relates to refrigeration, and more particularly to a cooling element of refrigeration apparatus provided with means for indicating the formation of frost or ice thereon.

5 The invention, together with the objects and advantages thereof, will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a refrigerator cabinet, taken on line l-I of Fig. 2, illustrating a cooling element embodying my invention for indicating the formation of frost thereon.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1 when no frost or only a slight amount of frost has formed on the cooling element; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to that shown in Fig. 3 when a layer of frost of considerable thickness has formed on the' cooling element.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown my invention in connection with a refrigerator cabinetlfl having thermally insulated walls H defining a storage compartment l2 into which access may be had by a door l3. Within the storage compartment I2 is arranged a cooling element i4 comprising a metal shell l5 adjacent to or about which may be arranged an evaporator coil (not shown) of refrigeration apparatus for producing cold in a well-known manner.

The shell I5 is positioned in a corner of the storage compartment i2 and to the front and side walls thereof are s cured baflle plates l6 and I1, respectively, the baffle plates preferably being thermally insulated from the shell with the side baflle plate l1 being in fixed spaced relation from the shell to provide the space .l8.

In order to determine when a layer of frost has accumulated on the shell l5 of the cooling element, I provide a hollow sleeveor tube l 9 which extends alongside the shell in the space I 8 and is secured to the front baffle plate It at an opening therein. The tube I9 is preferably black and may be formed of a suitable composition material, such as hard rubber.

The side baflie plate I! is provided with an inwardly extending flange or projection 20 adjacent the rear wall of the storage compartment l2, and the portion thereof which is in direct line with the hollow tube i9 is painted a suitable color, preferably black. Between the tube l9 and flange 20 the shell I5 is provided with an outwardly extending projecting part or lug 2|. The

. hollow tube It provides a direct line-of vision with the flange 20, and renders the projecting part 2| invisible at all times when the space I8 is viewed through the opening in the front baflie plate 16, When no frost or only a slight amount of frost has accumulated on the shell I5 and the space I8 is viewed through the tube I9, the black surface of the flange 20 is seen. When a predetermined layer of frost of considerable thickness has formed on the shell l5, as indicated by the dotted line 22, and the space It is viewed through the tube IS, a white surface is seen. This white surface is the frost that has accumulated on the projecting part 2| and which, as shown in Fig. 4, blocks off the view of the colored surface of the flange 20.

Inview ofthe foregoing, it will be understoo that the formation of frost on the cooling element, which is not directly visible and is concealed due to the ballle plates l6 and H, can be readily noted. When the space 18 is viewed through the tube l9 and a white surface is seen, the operation of the refrigeration apparatus may be modified atwill to instigate defrosting of the cooling element. If it is noted that a layer of frost of considerable thickness has accumulated on the shell l5 and at the same time it is desired to produce ice in the cooling element, the refrigeration apparatus may be permitted to operate in the usual manner to hasten theproduction of ice. After the production of ice, however, the fact that a white surface 1 is visible through the tube I9 indicates the formation of frost on the cooling element whereby defrosting thereof may be manually instigated.

Although I' have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made .without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerator including a cooling element, and a member arranged to substantially conceal said cooling element, said member having an opening providing a line of vision sufficiently close to a part of said cooling element, so that a white surface is seen through said opening when a predetermined layer of frost has accumulated on said cooling element.

2. A refrigerator including a cooling element, structure for substantially concealing said cooling element, said structure having an opening providing a line of vision sufllciently close to a part of said cooling element, so that a white surface is seen through said opening when a predetermined layer of frost has formed on said cooling element, and a member disposed between said structure and said part of the cooling element for" rendering said part invisible through said opening when no frost or only a slight layer of frost has formed on said cooling element.

3. A refrigerator including a cooling element having a projecting part, a baiiie plate mounted on the front of said cooling element and havin an opening, and a member positioned alongside said cooling element between said baiiie plate and said projecting part for rendering the latter invisible when the space behind said bafile plate is viewed through the opening, said proijecting part being sufficiently close to the line of vision provided by said member whereby a white surface is seen through the opening when a layer of frost has accumulated on said cooling element.

4. A refrigerator including a cooling element having a projecting part, a bai'ile plate mounted on the front of said cooling element and having an opening, a member positioned alongside said cooling element between said baiiie plate and said hollow member whereby a white surface is seen through the opening when a layer of frost has accumulated on said cooling element.

6. A refrigerator including a cooling element having a projecting part, a bailie plate mounted on the front of said cooling element and having an opening, a tubular member extending alongside said cooling element, said member being secured to said baille plate at the opening therein for rendering said projecting part invisible when the space behind said baiiie plate is viewed through the opening,. and a colored surface to the rear of said projecting part normally visible through the opening when no frost or only a slight amount of frost has accumulated on said cooling element, said projecting part being sufllciently close to the line of vision provided by said tubular member whereby a white surface is seen on said projecting part and the view of said colored surface is blocked when a layer of frost has accumulated on said cooling element.

SVEN W. E. ANDERSSON. 

